What I’m serving for dessert this summer

I get asked for sweet treat recipes a lot. And while I’m all about helping people balance their blood sugars and break the nasty sugar cycle, I do believe a yummy, gooey, decadent dessert is something we all need to indulge in every once in awhile.

For all of you health conscious folks out there, who want to bake low-sugar, home made treats for your families and friends, I’ve got a great recipe for you.

The low-carb cheesecake. YUM!

This recipe is easy and quick to make and only has six ingredients. We’ve been keeping it in the freezer and letting it thaw during our meal and it’s ready for dessert. It can also be kept in the fridge if you’re eating it all in the span of a few days.

It would be a hit at a summer potluck, for a wedding shower, birthday, anniversary dinner or even just a little treat on a regular ole weeknight.

We served it on Canada Day for my family and they all raved about it and took the recipe home with them. These are the folks who get to sample a lot of weird and wonderful recipes, dishes and food experiments coming out of our kitchen. Often to pretty dismal reviews. But this cheesecake was a home run.

I also shared the recipe with a good friend and she wrote back with these comments, “I made the cheesecake and it’s sooooo delish. We had it last night and again tonight. Did I mention I also had a slice for breakfast?”

Many of you will be surprised that I’m recommending a recipe calling for dairy. I seem to be able to tolerate a small amount of dairy and find keeping in some dairy is much easier for my clients who are trying to balance their blood sugars. It’s one less thing to have to eliminate or remove if you don’t have a sensitivity to it. I always recommend buying organic and if you can find it, grass fed dairy.

Crust: Melt butter. Then add to a mixing bowl with the pecans and almond meal. Mix until thoroughly combined. In a 9″ springform pan, pat the crust mixture onto the bottom. While it may seem like there isn’t enough don’t worry it works. Keep spreading.

Cheesecake: In a medium bowl using a hand mixer, mix eggs, cream cheese, xylitol until creamy. Pour on top of crust.

Bake at 350 F for 20-25 minutes or until cake it is firm. Chill in freezer for an hour or two or leave in refrigerator overnight. Cut into 8 slices and serve with your favourite topping.

Topping Options:

• To be honest, this cake doesn’t really need a topping it’s so awesome on its own. The original recipe called for a raspberry syrup, but we wanted to keep the extra sugars down.

• We served it the first time covered in blueberries and topped with a dollop of whipped cream. The frozen blueberries were a little too icy and crunchy, but a nice blueberry sauce made with a hint of Xylitol and a dash of lemon juice would be nice.

• Then fresh strawberries were out, so I served it with sliced berries and whipped cream.

• The topping options are really limitless. I’d like to try a simple low carb chocolate sauce, or some powdered vanilla and cacao nibs for a bit of crunch. It would also suit well to a lemon vibe with some lemon juice and zest added to the cake, and a low carb lemon glaze on top.

Give it a try and let me know in the comments how you enjoyed it. What topping options are your favs?

Want to eat a little healthier this summer? Drop me an email and we’ll schedule a review of your food diary. I’ll give you my best tips, suggestions and recommendations for tweaking your current diet to optimize health, well being and vitality. mmhealthcoach@gmail.com

This post first appeared here in the Halifax Citizen on July 13, 2015.

Hi Louise. Yes I think you could definitely use the Truvia instead of Xylitol. I have not used it myself so not sure of the proportions. Stevia is usually much sweeter than Xylitol though. I’d do a quick google search to see if they are interchangeable. Let me know how it goes.